Dial with yielding foot for timepieces



April 9, 1929. E. c. FITCH 1,708,293

DIAL WITH YIELDING FOOT FOR TIMEPIECES lFiled July 31. 1925 6 al, VII, /l

@ummm Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

.EZRA C.FITCH, 0F NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN O15.l

To WALT'HAM WATCH eoivi- PANY; 0F WA'LTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, CORPORATION OF IYIASSACHUSETTS.'

nLsLwI-TH YIELnNGrooT ron'riifinrrnons. i

. applicati@inea-July'ai, i925., ser-iaiim,liijia'fv This invention relates to the dials offtiine pieces, particularly of watches, or struments having dials which are fitted with projections,` called feet, "f r yattaching the dial'to the vsupport von which it is mounted. In lthecase 'of watches, the'pa-rt on, which the 'dial fis mounted .is baseplateg' a massive are mounted bearings' for the movable' parts 'of the'watch,y and the bridges and 'other structural parts of thewatch. movement. In the following description I will generally refer tothe instrument as a watch, and to the diall provided with the invention as a watch 'dial/,doing 'so for convenience and without intending thereby .to`,` setliinits to the invention or to' the 'protection' which I Heretofore in the art .'ofwa'tch" making the-dial feet have 'been solid studs for pins made by securing plate;4 such feetbeingadapted to lenterxcoin- 'plemental holes in' the pillar plateandfbe secured by set screws placed inthe edge of the pillar plated In ordertoinakear secure connection betweenlthe dial feet yandv -such set screws, t-he screws have 'been pointed at `their ends andthedial feet'forined with complemental sockets in'their sidesadapted to receive such pointed. screw ends. i But the formation of Isuch sockets'at the right loca tion in structural members of such small dia matter of much difliculty; while if such sockets are omitted, or incorrectly placed, security of attachment is obtaine'donly by driving' the holding' screws against the dial feet with excessive force. The force so applied is liable to bend the dial and crack the enamel with which such dials are usually faced, owing tothe fact that the holes in the pillar plate are largerthan the dial feet, and that the metal plate which forms the body of it-he Afdialiiswfar less vrigid than the enamel facing. Even a slight displacement of a watch. dial` foot laterally in its hole in the pillar plate, thus caused by pressure of its holding screw, is sufficient to crack the enamel.

My purpose has been to eliminate t-he difficult operation of previously forming sockets or recesses in dial feet to receive the holding screws, and to enable such holding screws to form their own sockets in the dial feet, withother invscrew pieces oflwire in the dial figuresl mensions as the feet of watchdials yhas been 3 out liability of bendigtlie dial and crackii'ig'the enamel.` I fhave'accomplished this fresiilt by'.y makingthe vdial feet of a novel l construction' such." that they'havel yielding walls, at least-at'thfe' side next tothe screw,` so' that 'the latterv whenA the pillar plate, or A plate inand on which Stff up will indent lthe adjacentfoot without applying t@ th@ dial plate, tliroiigl1' `tlie foot, a force great venough to crack the enamel.

Referring to the drawings-in'whichl have' "illustrated 'the present invention; I -liigiiiel 1s 'a 'fragmentary sectional view onfanfenlargedrscale of a pillar plate and dial of a. watch, f the planeof ,sect-ion passing through one of dial feet and its holding Fig'.y side 'elevation on a scale of l dial and its foot, embodying the invention,` in position be indented by ,the holdshowingfthe' 'screw Aas liavi'ig4 vfor'iiied its socket indenting the side ofthe f-,OOB

Fig. 1 isa .fragmentary plan'view as seenV frinbeneatl'i the assemblage shown in 5 isla viewsimilar to Fig. 4 illustrating a modifiedfforin of a dial foot embody ing -the same invention.

Like reference -characters ,represent the saine parts wherever they occur in all `the In Figure f1' represent-s a fragment of the pillar plate of a watch, 4in, one face of which is a recess, surrounded by a lip Z2, to

receive the dial.A

In` all figures c represents thebody or base plate of the watch dial, (Z

facing of enamel on the dial, and e oneof the dial feet. Such dial may be made of any materials and in -any manner heretofore knownor used in the watch making art, and the foot may be applied and secured to the dial in any usual, or'othensuitableinanner. No change is made'by this invention in the construction 'of the of mounting the foot upon the dial; while on the other hand dial feet containing this invention may be-applied in connection with new constructions and characteristics which may hereafter be developed in dials and methods of attaching their feet. f represents the dial foot screw which is set into the edge part of the pillar plate in a tapped hole which enters the hole provided in the side dial itself or in the mode 'y bears. For this purpose the footis prefer-v ably made as a tube of copperor othersuitable material. Materials are suitable for thev purpose which, in tubular form, have stiflicient flexibility and ductility to be indented in' theifm'anner indicated without being.

broken, and at the same Itime 'are lstiff enough to remain 'in approximately 'the `original form all around thel indented area, and also have, durability andjtcnsile strength sufficient for .the purpose of a dial foot, but are not rigid 'enough Vto .transmit bending stresses to the dial plate sufficient to crack i theienamel faciirg.' l'ihese facings are `strong enouglrto resist bending and tensile stresses .of certain values, but n ot enough to resist the forceswh'ich inay be applied by dial foot screws` to solid dial feet Ain'tholes of the relative proportions commonly `used in watch making. I have foundthat copper tubes of lthe same diameters as the prior solid dial feet, and with a ratio of thickness of wall to diameter' substantially equal to that shown in these drawings, when cut to suitable vlength' and appli-ea i0 sani as a .fait there- 'Vhen the holding a dial foot so made, its point displaces the wall of the foot at and near the pointof erigagement only, substantially as shown in Figure 3, indenting and drawing the metal, whereby the point of the screw .forms its own socket, without applying so much force to the foot as would cause injury to the dial.

The dial foot Aabove described is an open tube. In Figure 5 I have shown a modified form of the foot made asa cup, having a. wall c at the outer end of the foot. The side walls of this form of foot are yielding in substantially equal measure with those of the first' described tubular form, but the end wall braces Vthe side walls at their outer end and insures that when the foot is indented by the screw, enough-stock will remain outstanding between the end of t-hc foot and the under side of the dial screw to prevent the foot being accidentally withdrawn.

quality yand side of. the interior space.

screw ,is set upagainst It is to be understood that the locally yielding character of the footA made according to my invention is due to the fact that the vfoot is made as a hoilow body and that the ,yielding portion is a`wall boundingione Such hollow formation may be obtained in a variety of ways, as jby drawing out the stock from which the foot is made as a tube or a cup in the first placel and also by drilling lengthwise' into a solid rod or wire, and otherwise. fhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with an enamel faced dial and a support therefor, of means for securing the dial Vto the'support comprising a hollow foot projecting from theback of ,the dial into a hole in the support, and a. pointed screw set into the supportprotruding at its pointed end into said hole; the wall of the hollow1 foot being so thin and ductile and the point of the screw so sharp that the latter will indent and penetrate the former without transmitting sogreat bending stressto thedial as will crack the enamel facing thereof.

2.- Ametal dial having a facing of enamel TZand a tubular metal attaching foot projecting from its back, the wall of said foot being so thin and flexible that, when pressed upon laterally vbythe point of a sharp-pointed screw, it will fail before transmitting a great enough 'bending strain to the dial to crack said facing. Y l;

A dial having a facing of enamel and afoot Aprojecting from its back, said foot being of hollow construction with walls of such ductility and thinness, in proportion to the, stiffness: of the. dial :to resist bending that the pressure applied laterally by the point of a pointed set screw to the foot will indent the side thereof without-transmitting suiicient bending strain to the dial to crack said facing.

4. The combination of a dial-having an enamel facing, a hollow foot projecting from the back of the dial, and a pointed set screw arranged to be forced, point4 foremost,

against the side of said foot; tlie'wall of the foot being so ductile andtenuous that it will be penetrated by said point without transmitting enough bending strain to the dial'to crack said enamel facing.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

EZRA C. FITCH. 

